U.S. PV Manufacturing Set to Double

Recent announcements by American manufacturers of PV modules suggest that U.S. production of PV modules will more than double over the next two years, from 988 megawatts to about 2.5 gigawatts.

At least four companies plan to ramp up module manufacturing in the United States: SolarCity plans to build Silevo modules in a new 1 GW factory near Buffalo, N.Y.; Suniva will build a new 200 MW plant in Saginaw, Mich.; 1366 plans to open a 250 MW factory in Massachusetts (with a long-term goal of 1 GW); and Andalay will produce an unspecified quantity of modules in San Jose, Calif.

Factors contributing to the rebound include higher costs for Chinese-built modules (based on new tariffs and the inability of Chinese factories to continue selling product at a loss) and manufacturing efficiencies achieved by highly-automated new American facilities.